Many military records are found at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and other federal and state archives. United States Military Records provides more information on the federal military records and search strategies. For Arkansas the following sources are also very helpful:

Forts of the West Military Forts and Presidios an Post Commonly Called Forts West of the Mississippi River to 1898. By Robert W. Frazer. Norman University of Oklahoma Press. C 1972 Library of Congress 65-24196

Revolutionary War (1775-1783)

Some veterans of the Revolutionary War ventured out into Arkansas.

The 1835 Pension Roll

On June 5, 1834, the U.S. Senate required the Secretary of War to submit a statement showing the names of pensioners who were on the pension rolls or had previously been on the pension rolls. For more information on the 1835 Pension Roll see Revolutionary War Pension Records. The 1835 Pension Roll for the Territory of Arkansas, which includes Revolutionary War pensioners and heirs of War of 1812 casualties, is available online:

War of 1812 (1812-1815)

Explanation of the Major Record Types

Pearson, Thomas A., comp. Genealogical Records of the War of 1812: an Introduction and Selected Bibliography of Materials in the Collection of St. Louis Public Library. (St. Louis, Missouri: St. Louis Public Library, July 2004).

Land Records

Ayers, Linda. Arkansas. Some Military Land Grants For Soldiers of the War of 1812. (Free). (The USGenWeb Archives War of 1812 Project - Pensions, Rosters & Land Grants). Search by name under the county. (Accessed 11 May 2012).

Bounty land in Arkansas, Illinois, and Missouri was issued to soldiers who served in the War of 1812. Copies of the bounty land warrants are on 14 films at the Family History Library. The names of Arkansas patentees are indexed in "War of 1812, military bounty land warrants, 1815-1858" (NARA M848) FHL films 983163-77 (Worldcat). The records provide the name of the soldier and his rank, unit, date of warrant, and the date the land was located.

A list of 6,600 grantees, arranged by county name, is in Katheren Christensen, comp., Arkansas Military Bounty Grants (War of 1812).FHL book 976.7 R2c (Worldcat)

Mexican War (1846-1848)

Civil War (1861-1865)

See Arkansas in the Civil War for information about Arkansas Civil War records, web sites, etc. with links to articles about the Arkansas regiments involved in the Civil War. The regimental pages often include lists of the companies with links to the counties where the companies started. Men in the companies often lived in the counties where the companies were raised. Knowing a county can help when researching more about the soldiers and their families.

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System allows name searching for soldiers. The result set gives the regiments for the soldiers. Then you can check the Wiki regiment pages to determine counties. Often knowing the counties that had men in a regiment will help you determine if a soldier was your ancestor.

World War I (1917-1918)

United States. Selective Service System. Arkansas, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M1509. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1987-1988. FHL film with 1522740 (first of 71 films). These cards have been digitized and are searchable online. See WWI Draft Records for more information.